Overview

This is a story about British imperial rule in Africa during the middle decades of the 20th century. It asks four questions: why was Kenya's operation so idiosyncratic and spartan compared with other British colonies? Why did a transformation from social welfare to community development produce further neglect of the very poor? Why were there no equivalents to the French tradition of community medicine? If there was a transformatory element of colonial rule that sought to address poverty, where and why did it fall down? The answers chart a new history of administrative thought and practice in colonial Kenya, looking at the ways in which white people tried to engineer social change, and opening up the dynamics of rule within the late colonial period. North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP

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9780852557853

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Reviews

'Books on Kenya's colonial history continue to appear but this one is unusual in several aspects. The title is arresting and the chapter headings certainly catch the eye ... the main focus ... is on the history of colonial policies for African social welfare and, as it later transformed, for community development. World War II enhanced the concept of welfare by the state in Britain, and this led to a major transition in the notion of trusteeship in the colonies. The book explores four 'historiographies of empire', as the author puts it: the importance of the war, metropolitan thought, the colonial state and gender ... it is a pity the story is not carried further up to independence; but perhaps this view is an indication of the considerable interest which this book will arouse.' - Oliver Furley in The English Historical Review 'One way of reading Joanna Lewis's rich and stimulating study of British colonial welfare policy is as an elaborate absurdist comedy. It describes how a group of otherwise fairly intelligent people came to be engaged in a particularly futile form of alchemy: the attempt to transform the base metal of the inter-war colonial state into a glittering instrument of social improvement...the prose is so lively and elegant that few readers are likely to begrudge Lewis her good-fortune in finding such an accommodating publisher...Yet there is far more to this work than simply vivid story telling. Empire State-Building establishes Lewis as a leading historian of the late colonial state, one who can seamlessly combine post-colonial concerns with gender and the disputed meanings of language, with rigorous empirical research and a sensitive understanding of the very different worlds in which her subjects operated. This is an excellent book and it deserves to be widely read.' - Philip Murphy in Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 'How did development thought and practice become one of the most enduring legacies of colonial government? Joanna Lewis offers a comprehensive answer to this question in a book which deals with the history of administrative thought and practice in colonial Kenya, told through the ways in which Europeans (mainly English, white, middle class and male) tried to engineer social change in a white settlement colony riven by racial division...the book is a welcome and relevant study of how contemporary development practice - which has failed - has its roots in the colonial period...highly illuminating work...' - Bethwell A. Ogot in Journal of African History 'In Empire State Building, Joanna Lewis unravels the tangled bureaucratic logic that led to Kenya's welfare policy, then examines the failed mechanisms of its implementation. Although Empire State Building focuses on social welfare, the book also reveals much about colonialism's structural inertia, as well as its broader political context for Britain.' - Christopher A. Conte in African Studies Review '...a must read for students of empire and colonial state-building, as well as for African leaders as they challenge colonial legacies on notions of development and seek new development paradigms for their countries' - Osaak M Olumwullah in American Historical Review 'Unquestionably, the book suggests refreshingly new approaches to studying centralized states.' John Lamphear, American Historical Review

Books on Kenya's colonial history continue to appear but this one is unusual in several aspects. The title is arresting and the chapter headings certainly catch the eye ... the main focus ... is on the history of colonial policies for African social welfare and, as it later transformed, for community development. World War II enhanced the concept of welfare by the state in Britain, and this led to a major transition in the notion of trusteeship in the colonies. The book explores four 'historiographies of empire', as the author puts it: the importance of the war, metropolitan thought, the colonial state and gender ... it is a pity the story is not carried further up to independence; but perhaps this view is an indication of the considerable interest which this book will arouse. - Oliver Furley in THE ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW One way of reading Joanna Lewis's rich and stimulating study of British colonial welfare policy is as an elaborate absurdist comedy. It describes how a group of otherwise fairly intelligent people came to be engaged in a particularly futile form of alchemy: the attempt to transform the base metal of the inter-war colonial state into a glittering instrument of social improvement...the prose is so lively and elegant that few readers are likely to begrudge Lewis her good-fortune in finding such an accommodating publisher...Yet there is far more to this work than simply vivid story telling. Empire State-Building establishes Lewis as a leading historian of the late colonial state, one who can seamlessly combine post-colonial concerns with gender and the disputed meanings of language, with rigorous empirical research and a sensitive understanding of the very different worlds in which her subjects operated. This is an excellent book and it deserves to be widely read. - Philip Murphy in JOURNAL OF IMPERIAL & COMMONWEALTH HISTORY ... a must read for students of empire and colonial state-building... - Osaak A. Olumwullah in AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Unquestionably, the book suggests refreshingly new approaches to studying centralized states. - John Lamphear in AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Books on Kenya's colonial history continue to appear but this one is unusual in several aspects. The title is arresting and the chapter headings certainly catch the eye ... the main focus ... is on the history of colonial policies for African social welfare and, as it later transformed, for community development. World War II enhanced the concept of welfare by the state in Britain, and this led to a major transition in the notion of trusteeship in the colonies. The book explores four 'historiographies of empire', as the author puts it: the importance of the war, metropolitan thought, the colonial state and gender ... it is a pity the story is not carried further up to independence; but perhaps this view is an indication of the considerable interest which this book will arouse. - Oliver Furley in THE ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW One way of reading Joanna Lewis's rich and stimulating study of British colonial welfare policy is as an elaborate absurdist comedy. It describes how a group of otherwise fairly intelligent people came to be engaged in a particularly futile form of alchemy: the attempt to transform the base metal of the inter-war colonial state into a glittering instrument of social improvement...the prose is so lively and elegant that few readers are likely to begrudge Lewis her good-fortune in finding such an accommodating publisher...Yet there is far more to this work than simply vivid story telling. Empire State-Building establishes Lewis as a leading historian of the late colonial state, one who can seamlessly combine post-colonial concerns with gender and the disputed meanings of language, with rigorous empirical research and a sensitive understanding of the very different worlds in which her subjects operated. This is an excellent book and it deserves to be widely read. - Philip Murphy in JOURNAL OF IMPERIAL & COMMONWEALTH HISTORY ... a must read for students of empire and colonial state-building... - Osaak A. Olumwullah in AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Unquestionably, the book suggests refreshingly new approaches to studying centralized states. - John Lamphear in AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Author Information

Joanna Lewis is Professor in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics, where she is also Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security.

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